Southern Steep: Brewing Stronger Community Bianca Ward, Nicole Elinoff, Isaiah Webster III, Jacobi Hunter-Wright, Rodderick Sheppard

In this episode of Southern Steep: Brewing Stronger Community, co-hosts Shanice Bailey and Nicole Elinoff are joined by Raymond Velazquez, Director of Prevention for the Western North Carolina AIDS Project and Alison Gaye, a Senior Manager on NASTAD's Drug User Health Team. Ray and Alison discuss the paths that led them to doing essential harm reduction work in the South, their personal philosophies on harm reduction, and the importance of centering community, care, and compassion in this work.

In this episode of Southern Steep, co-hosts Rodderick and Jacobi learn about Corey Haskett's path towards becoming the Harm Reduction Program Coordinator at US helping US, People Into Living. Corey talks about the importance of syringe services programs, mental health, and providing proper sex education to priority populations.

On this special episode of Southern Steep: Brewing Stronger Community, Nicole, and Jacobi speak with attendees of NASTAD's second-annual Southern CBO Summit, which took place in San Antonio, Texas, January 17-19, 2024. This dynamic episode features Noah Baker (Delaware HIV Consortium), Dexter Davis (Urban League of Hampton Roads), Yvonne Arizpe (Legacy Community Health), & William Wheaton (Positive Impact Health Centers), summit attendees from four impactful community-based organizations in the South, covering Virginia, Houston, Georgia, and Delaware (yes, CDC defines Delaware as being in the South). Learn more about their organizations, what partnership means to them, and what they took away from participating in this year's Southern CBO summit.

In this episode, co-hosts Jacobi and Rodderick share space with the wonderful Kyanna Parsons and learn about her professional journey into the field of HIV. Kyanna talks about having to unlearn biases and stigma surrounding HIV and how she’s made it her mission to address misconceptions to underserved communities.

In this episode, recorded on World AIDS Day, co-hosts Justin and Shanice are joined by Leisha McKinley-Beach, Founder and CEO of the Black Public Health Academy. Now, on the brink of retirement, McKinley-Beach discusses her lifelong commitment to ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S., and her new venture that aims to forge intergenerational partnerships that cultivate opportunities for other passionate activists and advocates to hold the torch and lead the fight. This episode’s Southern Charm goes out to SisterLove, an organization, founded in 1989, as a volunteer group of women interested in educating Atlanta and especially communities of women about HIV prevention, self-help, and safer sex techniques.

In this episode, co-hosts Rodderick and Shanice join forces to converse with the talented AJ King. AJ is based out of Washington DC and is the Director of Intercultural Affairs at Howard University, as well as the Director of Street Outreach at Sasha Bruce Youthwork. Conversations center around AJ’s passion for theatre and the arts, and how they’ve helped him pave a way towards advocacy, social work, and self-love.
This episode’s Southern Charm goes out to Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders (SMYAL). Committed to social change, SMYAL builds, sustains, and advocates for programs, policies, and services that LGBTQ youth need as they grow into adulthood. SMYAL offers a variety of services for LGBTQ youth like housing, mental health, sexual health scholarships and more.